E. coli warning issued for packaged romaine

The Public Health Agency of Canada is warning consumers to avoid eating packaged romaine lettuce while an investigation into an outbreak of E. coli infections in Ontario, Quebec, and several U.S. states continues.

The Canadian federal health watchdog released a statement on its website Tuesday afternoon. The statement was released in conjunction with a similar warning from the Center for Disease Control in the United States. Health officials in both countries are receiving reports about people falling sick after eating romaine lettuce.

In Canada, based on an investigation’s findings to date, exposure to romaine lettuce has been identified as a source of the outbreak, but the cause of contamination has not been identified.

The public health agency says it believes illnesses reported in this outbreak are genetically related to illnesses reported in a previous E. coli outbreak from December 2017 that also affected consumers in both Canada and U.S.

In Canada, 18 confirmed cases of E. coli illness have been investigated. Three cases of those cases were in Ontario, and the remaining 15 were reported in Quebec.

Individuals became sick between mid- October and early November. At least six people have been hospitalized as a result of the infections, and one individual suffered from a severe complications after becoming infected with E. coli. No deaths have been reported.

The agency is advising consumers in Ontario and Quebec to avoid eating romaine lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce until more is known about the outbreak and the cause of contamination.